Jose Mourinho has no regrets about his "zero titles" taunt to second-placed AC Milan as the Serie A title race hots up.

The Nerazzurri, who welcome mid-table Lazio to the San Siro tomorrow night, head into the weekend seven points ahead of their arch rivals, who travel to Catania on Sunday.

That gap was 10 points prior to last weekend, when Inter suffered a shock defeat at Napoli shortly after Milan had seen off Palermo 3-0.

Another slip-up by the three-time defending champions this weekend would give the Rossoneri real hope heading into the final four games of the season, and potentially leave Mourinho with egg on his face after the Portuguese suggested Carlo Ancelotti's side would finish the campaign empty-handed.

"I have no regrets. I'm man enough to apologise to Milan if, at the end of the season, I'm wrong," Mourinho said.

"I remember (Milan midfielder Massimo) Ambrosini insulting 10 million Inter fans when he celebrated the Champions League victory.

"Many years have passed and I have never seen him apologise. He's a charismatic player who has captained a great club like Milan, but I have never heard him apologise to the Inter fans, many of whom live in his same city."

Of tomorrow's match, Mourinho added on www.inter.it: "I'm expecting a very difficult game against Lazio, but we need three victories to win the championship.

"We just have to think about ourselves, and having a seven-point lead is important because it increases our confidence.

"This story of seven points is a curious story because we had this advantage for months, then we had a 10-point lead for a few games, but the lead has always been between five and seven points.

"Now there are just five games left and we still have this lead. Excluding the Dutch and Cypriot championships, where two teams are already champions, no other team in Europe has a lead like ours, and everyone here is talking about this story of May 5."

On that date seven years ago, Inter missed out on the Scudetto following a 4-2 defeat at Lazio.

Mario Balotelli and Dejan Stankovic miss out through suspension tomorrow while Maicon, Nelson Rivas and Francesco Bolzoni are still injured, but Mourinho could welcome back Sulley Muntari after the Ghana midfielder resumed full training yesterday and came through unscathed.

Lazio coach Delio Rossi will definitely be without Ousmane Dabo, Mobido Diakite and Goran Pandev and also has a doubt over Stefano Mauri.

The Biancocelesti could reignite their faint hopes of a place in next season's Europa League with victory at the San Siro, having crept closer to sixth-placed Roma with a string of improved performances of late.

However, they failed to capitalise on the Giallorossi's defeat last week as they succumbed at home to Atalanta to see them remain five points behind their bitter rivals.

Lazio president Claudio Lotito said: "I hope that in the end the team will be focused, cohesive and determined as they have been in the last few games with the exception of Atalanta."